ABSTRACT
Fullerenes have an important molecular system for exploiting as a modifier to engineer a variety of composite materials with functional properties. Due to unique physical and chemical properties of C60, many applications have been proposed and implemented in various fields such as lubrication [1, 5], sensor [2, 3], heat transfer [4, 5], and biomedical applications [6-8] such as photodynamic therapy, drug delivery, enzyme inhibition, antioxidant, antiviral, and antibacterial activity. As C60 is spherical in shape, small in size, and has capability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anion radical (O2
–) and hydroxyl radical (OH) under photoirradiation [6, 7],it holds high potential in biological and medical applications. Extremely low solubility in most polar solvents and propensity towards aggregation restrict C60 of these applications. In this context, solubilization, and stabilization of C60 in aqueous medium has attracted great attention in scientific community. Generally, two widely used strategies have been tested to be effectively dispersing C60 in water: (i) surface functionalization by attaching hydrophilic functional groups [6-8] and (ii) surface alteration through stabilizing agents [9-11] (e.g. surfactants, polymers, etc.).
